Holy Spirit
In Nee/Lee’s pneumatology, the Holy Spirit is not merely a working force or agent of God, but God himself in his continuous indwelling in believers—the medium through which God’s life flows from transcendent to immanent.
The Holy Spirit as life itself
For Nee/Lee, the Holy Spirit is identical to God’s life:
The Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of life” because God and Christ’s life depend on Him. He is not only the reality of life, but life itself.
The Spirit is not separated from life. Where the Spirit works, God’s life flows; where God’s life is absent, the Spirit does not work. They are two words for the same reality.
Triune position: The Son as Spirit
Nee/Lee see the Holy Spirit as the Son in his indwelling form:
The Son as the Spirit enters into men; therefore the Spirit is the entering in of life.
This means Christhad not abandoned us at ascension, but comes in Spirit-form into believers. Galatians 2:20 (“not I, but Christ lives in me”) and Galatians 1:16 (“Christ revealed in me”) illustrate how the Spirit makes Christ operative in inner life.
The anointing—anointing of the Holy Spirit
Nee/Lee give the Holy Spirit a special function as anointing (anointing):
1 John 2:27 says that in us is the ‘anointing’ which we have received from the Lord. Anointing in Scripture refers to the Spirit of God (Luke 4:18). Therefore this verse tells us that the Spirit of God dwelling in us is the anointing. This anointing anoints us continually. The anointing is the movement of the Spirit of God in us.
The anointing is the pulsing of the Spirit; it is God’s continuous inworking—not one-time but ongoing. Through anointing “the element of God may become our inward element.”
Experience of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is not abstract but tangible and recognizable. Nee/Lee speak of “the sense of life”—the inner sensory perception of the Spirit:
Romans 8:6 shows us not only that the minding of the Spirit is life and peace, but also that the Spirit of life gives us inner senses. These senses make us aware whether we live in the flesh or in the spirit, mind the flesh or mind the spirit.
When we set our spirit on the Spirit, we sense strength, satisfaction, and peace. This is not emotional state but evidence of genuine divine operation.
Source: Watchman Nee & Witness Lee, The Knowledge of Life (Living Stream Ministry, 1973), chapters 5–7.